Mirror, Mirror
by Xardogn
Summary: Some things are really best left unearthed. Then maybe Cloud Strife would have less issues attending the prestigious Mirror Academy in his attempt to become spell-casting SOLDIER elite. Trouble seems to find him anyway with his strange powers, so maybe it's best to gather what friends he could. AU. probably Cloud/Vincent
1. Prologue

The Corel City Research Institute of Materia Phenomenon was a proud and respectable school. Shortened to CRI, it was established in year 0121, after the First Calamity and disappearance of the Planet's voice. Well, at least it was told by the strange witch-like heathens that declared magic wasn't just a means to an end and a science that must be studied by the top intellectual minds of the time.

Really, it was just a bunch of fancy words that boiled down to 'We are trying to figure out magic and how to make it work for us.' The land, wracked by Calamity and disaster, had been thrown a bit into chaos until it started being split up under different leaders who were basically a glorified mafia. These in turn, practically established nations, and everything went back to normal.

But back to the CRI. Said scientists were day and night performing experiments on the magic that permeated the world and its inhabitants, in as many different forms as there were grains of sand on the beach. Materia, in particular, was a concern for them, as it represented the purest form of magic, but with the militant nations around them all vying for different weapons against these abilities, they had their hands full.

Which is how, in year 0122, they unearthed a creature named Jenova. Test after test revealed nothing of her origins, but it did confirm one curious fact: she could consume and destroy the magic from any source of life. In simple terms, they had found what they were looking for.

A scientist, by the name of Claudia Strife, was less than pleased with the messing around with strange creatures. Something seemed off about this 'Jenova', and since she was pregnant, Claudia wanted as few risks as possible.

A month or so later, she gave birth to a beautiful yellow-haired baby boy whom she loved dearly. His name was Cloud and he was a very happy and sleepy child for the first few months of his life. That was until Claudia noticed something very odd about her dear son. Sometimes he would stare off into space and grasp at things that weren't there. This happened with greater and greater frequency before she gave up and asked her then boyfriend about it, bringing the boy into the lab.

"These tests can't be right! Not only does it show he has not affinity with materia, but he has no existing soul magic either. Every human, even non-spellcasters have some!" He exclaimed, looking at the baby who was too busy sleeping in his mother's arms.

Claudia was frankly, terrified. Not just for her son's life, but for the unnatural gleam she saw in scientists' eyes. Something was very long. Unfortunately, due to her innately trusting nature-and faith in her supposed boyfriend-she didn't realize it fully until Cloud was about the age of two.

Scientists weren't supposed to be greedy. They were supposed to seek out answers to help the progress of the future, but these ones…these ones and CRI were willing to use a two year old boy to further the research into weaponized magic. And Claudia wasn't going to stand for it.

She did what had to be done and got the hell out of there, wondering why things had gone so wrong. Maybe it was time to look for a new job.

_Besides, _she thought, as she drove off in a stolen truck, _maybe some things were just not meant to be unearthed._


	2. Chapter 1

**Hello again. To anyone who knows of Golden Weapon, I'm not abandoning it, I just feel the need to branch out a little more. I need something happy to write. That being said, this fic is going to be a lot lighter and a lot gayer than Golden Weapon so if you don't mind that, here you go. I love playing with AUs, and this one idea is one of my favorites. See you guys around. ~Xar.**

* * *

There was something very terrifying about doctors' offices, even in a prestigious school for the spell-casting elite. Cloud Strife clung to that excuse as his clammy hands pressed wrinkles into his medicals sheets, feet pacing back and forth almost entirely on their own.

The lights were on, and he could see the outline of a hunched over person inside-probably this 'Dr. Hojo' as the plaque told him-so it wasn't like there was a queue, or a line but-"Ughhh….." Cloud groaned, and pushed the bridge of his glasses up on his equally sweaty nose. He really didn't want to go in there.

So caught up in the feeling that his stomach was twisting itself around in the form of a pretzel that he barely noticed the brush of winded behind him until it was too late. "HellooooooOOOOOO!"

It started off as a screech and ended in a train-wreck-literally, as Cloud was thrown into a wall by an overenthusiastic….person?

"Aaah!" No coherent thoughts were formed as the rough wall slammed into his spine and sent a jolt up it, making the blonde want to curl up and cry. The storm that took him by surprise showed him no mercy, however.

"Well, what do we have here, huh? Another chicken who doesn't want to visit Doctor Creepy's laboratory?" Said storm turned out to be a teenage girl with a short black bob of hair, along with gleaming, mischievous eyes. A student, obviously, by the way she was wearing this academy's standard uniform. Cloud could suddenly feel her gaze swiftly judging him, from his unkempt hair and worn-out glasses, to his entirely too big for him beige sweater.

Cloud didn't even open his mouth, just stared at her with fear and mostly anger. His back still hurt, and he was still pressed up against the cold wall with this strange girl eyeing him like she was going to mug him and leave his corpse in an alley.

"No wait, don't tell me. You're a new student, and yet you've heard all the rumors about how he experiments on dead bodies, so you don't want to go in there and be the next one, am I right?" The girl sweetly asked.

If possible, Cloud paled even further. Why did he have to deal with this on his first day? He'd promised his mom he wouldn't get into any fights or trouble.

"Leave me alone, will you?" Well, he had to say something, and nervous around people as he was, Cloud was not the type to pass up a moment to be snarky.

That didn't deter the girl, but she did at least free up his personal space. Throwing back her shoulders, she laughed loudly. "Nobody can tell the great ninja Yuffie what to do!"

"Yuffie!" An angry voice called from the other end of the hall.

The girl's face fell flat. "Except him."

Cloud was pondering what better odds he had if he entered the creepy doctor's office while she was distracted, when the source of this Yuffie's ire came silently to a stop in front of both of them.

He was tall. So tall. Cloud's first impression was that of danger, as he came up to the guy's shoulder, _barely, _but he had such a disinterested look on his face that he wondered if the guy even noticed he was here.

Yuffie's friend had the same uniform in pristine condition, only he had added a red headband to keep his dark locks from apparently falling into his face. Why he had such long hair, and such enchanting red eyes and such a handsome, youthful face, Cloud didn't know, but he certainly wasn't going to admit he just thought any of that. At all.

He certainly looked like a cool kid. Looking closer, Cloud could see the dark-haired guy liked to accessorize, but the whole image was ruined by him taking a huge yawn before turning back to Yuffie.

"Stop terrorizing the new kid." Goddammit, his voice was surprisingly deep too. While he wasn't invading Cloud's personal space and asking obtrusive questions, he still sort of wanted him to leave, if only so he could calm down and be alone and comfortable.

And so those red eyes would stop sliding over to him, and the ninja girl would stop poking him on the shoulder. "Awww, but they're so cute when they're lost and terrified! Besides, they need me to guide them on the right path!"

"No they don't. He'll be better off without you," the tall guy said, pushing a lock of hair out of his face. "Let's go, if I'm early I can fall asleep before the teacher starts his lecture."

"Great motivation you have there. Fine. We'll probably see you around anyway," Yuffie gave a short quirky wave before finally letting Cloud out of her sights. Before he left with her, the tall guy turned back and gave a slight nod, which he hope was in the way of a greeting. Cloud raised a hand in return, and the guy turned away and ran to easily catch up with his friend.

Which left Cloud just standing there. What exactly had just happened?

He probably could've stood there for a few minutes before, had there not been a loud bang from inside the doctor's office that jolted him out of his trance. Oh right, he still had to go do that…still, strangely enough, he felt slightly less nervous after being harassed by the ninja girl and stared down by her companion.

"Some SOLDIER I'll be, if I can't even face down a damn doctor," He muttered to himself, before nudging his glasses and setting his shoulders. One deep breath later, and his fist rapped against the door.

* * *

_Oh Minerva, I think the rumors were true…_Cloud thought to himself as he finally was able to exit the doctor's office and sprint down the empty hall. The man had immediately looked like a sketchy kind of person, and strange things on the shelves didn't help the matter. Then Doctor Hojo had promptly asked him a lot of weird questions, wanted to stab him with a needle, and it was all Cloud could do to yell out he needed to go to class and nearly slam into the door on his way out.

He came to a stop, breathing heavily, noticing he was in another, smaller empty hallway with no clue where he was. This one was far less heavy on the fancy ornaments than the entrance, but there were no directions, plaques, or signs that pointed him in the right direction.

Cloud slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled map they had given to him in the office, but that was about as much help as yelling out a window would be. It wasn't a magical one that said 'you are here, please follow these directions to your destination,' it was printed on standard paper and had his homeroom class circled messily. Real useful.

At this rate he was going to leave a great first impression on the school he was risking almost everything to join for a dumb dream, simply because he was scared of a doctor. His first day was going great.

Actually…there was one thing he could try. Cloud slowly slid the glasses perched on his nose down, squinting into the air in front of him. Immediately it burst into thousands of different colors racing in every direction, and he furiously shoved them up onto his face again, groaning slightly from the headache they caused.

_Bad…bad idea. Remind me to never do that again._ This was a magic school, Mirror Academy no less, but he'd been hoping it would've given him some sort of clue.

"Hey kid, you alright?" Another voice shouted at him from behind, but this one sounded a lot friendlier and concerned. Cloud turned around and nearly slammed his face into the person's muscled chest, not expecting another large person.

This one was different. He had dark hair too, but it was much bushier. What stood out the most besides the scar on his cheek was the man's friendly bright-blue eyes, a large sword on his back and….

"Are those dog ears?" Cloud asked, dumbfounded. He wasn't seeing things, right? There were really two ears perched on this man's head and-a tail? That was wagging. Which meant it was actually attached to him. Cloud was tempted to take his glasses off and clean his eyes, but that would be a very bad idea under these conditions.

The man had the gall to look sheepish about it. "Well, yeah. They are. I know it's weird but, uhhhh….." He scratched his head, causing the appendages to droop slightly. "Well, if you have weapons training, you'll hear the full story. But all I'm gonna say is that it's totally not my fault!"

Right. Okay. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Welll, you looked lost. So since it is a SOLDIER's duty to help those in need, I figured I'd see what's up! You sure you're okay? You looked like you were in pain earlier," the man said, his face suddenly softening. Cloud could only describe it as a puppy look, but he was still touched by the concern, even if he was very strange. It was a genuine question.

"I-No, I'm fine. But I'm lost. I don't know where my class is," Cloud mumbled. He held up the crumpled sheet in his hand, and the dog-man took a look at it.

"Hmm. I don't blame you, I still get lost in the older parts of the school sometimes. You're actually not that far away. See? You're right here." A large finger pointed at a hallway that was just a few turns away from his classroom. "All the first year stuff is thankfully in the same wing, so it should be pretty quick to get used to."

"Wouldn't signs be helpful?" Cloud asked, curious why there were no guide marks.

The man laughed. "You'd think, but the person who designed this place likes to keep the aesthetic consistent or some shit like that. Trust me, you're better off using magic, or talking to someone."

Cloud bit his lip and nodded. There was a problem for him with that, but at least he knew where he was now. He'd just have to get his head into spatial reasoning again. "Thanks."

"No problem. Anytime you need help, just give me a call, okay? I'm running late, but I hope to see you around, spiky. You got the makings of a potential SOLDIER!" The man gave him a playful salute, winked, and then ran off without a word.

Strange encounter number three for today. He really should be keeping a checklist.

* * *

He'd gotten to school early, so it was a bit before his homeroom started by the time Cloud found his class. He could hear rowdy voices all the way from down the hall, so it had to be the right one, and sure enough, he found his number.

Opening the door slowly, he peeked inside. The other students were all in various states of tiredness, some yawning, others chatting to their friends, even a few outright sleeping. They seemed to be waiting on the teacher, and Cloud hoped he could slip in without attracting too much attention.

Thankfully, the door didn't creak, everyone was loud and obnoxious, and he was able to quietly enter the classroom without attracting any attention. Winding his way past desks and bags, he headed towards his goal of an empty seat somewhere in the middle of the chaos. It was hard going but he managed it while only bumping into one stray leg that wasn't tucked underneath a desk.

Cloud flopped himself into the seat, sighing. He remembered his mother wanting to hear all about his first day when he returned, and if it was anything like the past hour or two, he might need a full day to recant it. He resolved to himself that it was most definitely going to even itself out now and get better, but as always, life proved him wrong.

"We ARE IN THE SAME CLASS!" A voice yelled in his ear and Cloud jumped, hitting his knees against the wooden barricade of the desk. Fuck.

He turned his head so slowly he could hear gears clicking, but the sight that greeted him was the same: Yuffie, the ninja girl, smiling at him like she found her gold mine again.

This was going to be a long day.


End file.
